The Frankish Reich

Thanks for the clarification. We need both!

Or in other words (pictures), this:

True. And usually that doesn't take much time. The law requires someone claiming citizenship to come forward with some evidence of it. That's usually easy: a certified U.S. birth certificate. Sometimes it's showing that your parents were citizens for a certain amount of time even though you were born abroad. But typically not a big deal. So the "process" isn't necessarily a lengthy trial; it's a fairly quick document inspection. The whole issue is this: the constitution requires "due process." But it doesn't define what kind of process is due. For example, under the law someone who is in the U.S. for under 2 years can be removed expeditiously, without seeing a judge. If he claims asylum, he gets an interview about the nature of that fear. If it isn't a plausible asylum claim, he's gone.

Good Lord. Will it ever end? I'd like to see the reciprocal tariffs on U.S.-produced music. That would be a nice way to kill one of the industries in which the U.S. remains dominant.

Oh, I agree. The attempt to have a shocking ending was pretty ham-handed. But still: a good film offering some good insight. I didn't read the book, but friends who have liked that too.

https://apnews.com/article/who-will-be-next-pope-a1c221a9a46edacb434341b3843393f0 Despite being a Catholic school boy, I have to admit I never figured out the whole deal with different priestly orders. But that's a big subtext (along with the liberal/conservative and Old World/New World splits). Another Jesuit? Weird that Francis was the first ever Jesuit, since they are known as unusually scholarly types and the Order has been around for four centuries. Who knows. Right now I have more faith in the secretive process to put forth a wise man than I have in our democratic process to do so.

Charles is getting a jump on that 80th birthday thing! Born: Prince Charles of Edinburgh 14 November 1948 (age 76) [Just kidding ... I assume it was the official coronation or whatever]

Sounds real ethical and practicable. Convince a group of people who are rational actors to enroll their kids in a randomized/blind controlled study. 50% chance the kid will get a placebo. Or convince rabid anti-vaxxers who think their kid will turn autistic and never go on a date or play baseball to enroll in that study and have a 50% chance of getting that poison injection. Maybe we should just continue what we've been doing for, oh, 3 or 4 generations of Americans, resulting in the near elimination of measles with no convincing evidence at all of a significant downside?

https://ballotpedia.org/Fernando_Rodriguez_Jr. Nominated by Trump, confirmed by the Senate by a unanimous (96-0) vote. Now suddenly a "Marxist"

I guess Trump should vet his own nominees? Or maybe stop doing unlawful/unconstitutional things would be better at this point.

No better sign that Trump is tanking in the polls - the return of the Moronic Trump Photoshop. Welcome back. That took what, 102 days this time?

Not denying that, but people used to say the same thing about Japan. That one worked out o.k. for us.

Tush Push Win Rate. It was kind of important too ...

Most of it was so boring. But punctuated with ridiculous things. Peterman looking like an NFL player. Joe Webb emergency package. Still unforgettable.

I've tried. A few times. Every time a new league is launched. I just can't get into it. Reminder: the NBA and Stanley Cup playoffs are great!

The tweet shows Trump, but the article is equal opportunity trash-bashing.

You will have as much as you need and not as much as you desire, so that others may have more someday as manufacturing jobs return. The new Mr. Ten-Year Plan.

As a Catholic, I was not offended. As an American, I was offended. You are The President of the United States. A 79 year old self-declared leader of the world (no longer "the free world" apparently). Grow up.

And when there was a job called "editor," which meant someone was proofreading the story before it was printed/posted. I really like The Athletic, which is better than most, but some of the sloppy hot take stuff they put out there is pretty embarrassing.

Fair point. But dig deeper. Tariffs, yes. Subsidies? They work both ways. Tesla played the EV incentive game beautifully in the U.S., and even today makes a princely sum by monetizing those incentives and selling them to other companies. So when Trump or Peter Navarro says "reciprocal tariffs" include all kinds of other non-tariff barriers to entry, well, that's really hard to compute and that's not just a one-way street.

Well, yes. It is obviously a very flawed institution. Pope Francis managed to recover a moral force from the scandals of recent years. I don't always live up to his guidance - in fact, I probably honor it more in the breach - but his guidance remains a moral beacon for what I should strive to be.

Agreed. Both very good films, particularly The Two Popes. Conclave has been said (by people who seem to know what they're talking about) to be a pretty good telling of what really goes on behind the scenes.

True. The war on China will just encourage a faster race to the bottom. China is no longer the cheapest labor manufacturer. Vietnam, Laos, Bangladesh, Indonesia ... the manufacturing hubs continue to move south and west.

Why can't I buy this Toyota? https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/what-a-15-000-electric-suv-says-about-u-s-china-car-rivalry-43cd564e?st=2PsQJy&reflink=article_copyURL_share SHANGHAI—The offer sounds like a scam—a new Toyota electric-powered sport-utility vehicle for about $15,000, complete with sunroof and cup holders. But the Toyota bZ3X is real, and it is actually on sale starting at that price. There is a catch: To buy one, you have to be in China. Economists talk about "utility." The value of something relative to something else. Yes, allowing Toyota to import this car would impact the sales of Teslas and GM EVs and whatever. But it would provide huge benefits to lots and lots of American consumers who wouldn't be stuck with ultra-expensive monthly payments, who would appreciate a truly affordable (and EV to boot) well made vehicle to serve their daily needs. What kind of communistic "you must support the American state-sponsored vehicle producers" system do we live in? Tesla is better-positioned than other American automakers to compete in China, since its models have always been all-electric and it makes the vehicles in Shanghai with Chinese batteries. Yet it has fallen behind in another aspect that makes China special: speed of development. Tesla has two models widely available—Model 3 and Model Y—and both have been on the market for years. China’s BYD has about 25 models, according to the market-analysis firm Inovev, and is constantly introducing more. Am I saying that the "communist" Chinese auto industry is more openly competitive - classic capitalist, where those who don't innovate fall behind and go out of business - than the American auto industry? Yes. Yes I am.